GEM Micromatic Clog Pruf SE Razor

It's finally arrived, all the way from the US, and yes, it's a stunner.

This is my first vintage SE razor and to be honest I wasn't expecting it to look quite as good as it does. The photos don't quite do it justice - it really is a thing of elegant beauty.

Now, due to current circumstances I've been holding off trying any new shaving hardware until I can do so in relative luxury, with easy access to the essentials*. But when this arrived I couldn't help myself and, despite the cramped conditions and being pressed for time, I went at my face and neck with enthusiasm, the razor loaded with a GEM blade supplied by the nice people at Connaught Shaving.

For more about that, look out for Dave's Shave Of The Day #17, in which I'll take you, step by agonisingly-detailed step, through my first shave with a vintage, single-edge razor. **

* By 'essentials' I mean pre-shave cream and a styptic pencil and/or alum block. As it was, I had to rummage in a box hidden underneath another box in order to retrieve the alum block. The styptic pencil was nowhere to be found. I knew where my Proraso pre-shave creams were but stupidly didn't use them as I was a bit rushed and stupidly thought 'Pre-shave cream? Pah. It's a single-edge razor. What could possibly go wrong?'.

** Strap yourselves in, folks. It's going tobe a wild ride.